Senate Subcommittee Hears Mix of Views on Bill to Ban Import of Sweatshop Products

Coverage of Senate trade subcommittee’s consideration of the proposed Decent Working Conditions and Fair Competition Act, which would bar the import or sale of sweatshop products in the United States

Social Organisation in the Malaysian Peacock Pheasant

This thesis reports a study of the behaviour and morphology of the Malaysian peacock pheasant Polyplectron malacense, an inhabitant of lowland rain forest in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 21 months was spent in the field and museum collections were visited. Micro-habitat analysis, radio-tracking and contextual analysis of calling behaviour and call playback experiments were used to collect data on the species in the wild. Periods of calling arid display scrape maintenance were infrequent and unpredictable. Not all of the available micro-habitats within the primary forest were used by the birds as some areas were consistently avoided. Within calling periods males used particular micro-habitats to call and maintain display scrapes. Three different call types were heard. There were differences between calling periods in the number of birds calling, the types of calls given and the overall amount of calling. The number of display scrapes maintained also differed. Based on contextual observations, call playback experiments were conducted and stimulus tapes elicited responses and permitted investigation of call function. There are several morphological features of the male which seem likely to be subject to sexual selection. Males appear to possess several sexually-selected traits which show considerable variability among individuals. Several male morphological characters have evolved in. association with particular epigamic display elements, suggesting that they are potentially under selection through female choice. These results suggest that a female is presented with variation among males in several different ornamental traits. A qualitative model, based on food availability, is proposed to explain variation in calling and scrape maintenance among males. It is argued that opportunities for males to display to females may be very rare and that this may explain the evolution of the male's plumage and display. Females lay a single-egg clutch and hence only one male can fertilise a clutch, with the result that competition between males for paternity is likely to be very strong

Responses to an isometric leg-exercise test predicts sex-specific training-induced reductions in resting blood pressure after isometric leg training

Isometric training, using either isometric handgrip (IHG) or isometric bilateral-leg (IBL) protocols, is an effective method of lowering resting systolic blood pressure (SBPrest). However, the reductions in SBPrest seen after training vary widely between individuals. Predicting likely training-induced reductions in SBPrest could make it possible to optimise the effects of the training in all participants. It is known that post-IHG training reductions in SBPrest can be predicted by SBP responses to a 2 minute IHG task in both hypertensive and older normotensives (Millar et al., 2009; Badrov et al., 2013). However, the predictability of such a test in younger individuals and when using a comparable IBL task, has not been established. Furthermore, it is not known whether these simple isometric tests can predict reductions in ambulatory SBP (mean 24-hour, SBPamb) as well as SBPrest. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine whether an IBL test can be used to predict training-induced reductions in SBPrest and SBPamb following 10 weeks of IBL training in young men and women.Resting and ambulatory BP (SBPrest and SBPamb) were measured prior to and following 10 weeks of IBL training using an isokinetic dynamometer (4, 2-minute contractions at 20% MVC with 2 minute rest periods, 3/week) in 20 normotensive individuals (10 men, age=21 ± 4 years; 10 women, age=23 ± 5 years). SBP responses to the IBL test (single 2-minute period of IBL exercise) was derived by calculating the difference between peak SBP and mean baseline SBPrest. Pearson’s product moment correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship between the blood pressure responses to a short 2-minute IBL test and the magnitude of the reductions in SBPrest and SBPamb after IBL training.ResultsThere were significant reductions in men and women’s SBPrest (7.4±5.1mmHg, p=0.0001 & 5.7±4.1mmHg, p=0.001) and SBPamb (4.0±1.9mmHg, p=0.011 & 6.1±5.8mmHg, p=0.0001) following training. These changes in SBPrest were strongly correlated with pre-training SBP response to the IBL test in both men (r=-0.83, p=0.003, SEE=3.03) and women (r = -0.81, p=0.004, SEE=2.56). However, the magnitude of the reductions in SBPamb were not correlated with SBP response to the IBL test (men, r=-0.44, p=0.199, SEE=1.76; women, r=-0.23, p=0.517, SEE=6.01).These results support previous research which has identified that IBL training is an effective tool for lowering both resting and ambulatory BP. Furthermore, a simple isometric exercise test can be used as a tool to predict reductions in resting SBP, but not ambulatory SBP, after IBL training in both men and women. This test could be used to optimise the effects of this type of training in a wider range of participants, perhaps through modification of the training, to suit the anticipated effects in different individuals

The Role of Socioindexical Expectation in Speech Perception.

Listeners extract cues to speaker identity from the speech stream. Recent evidence suggests that listeners will also perceive these socioindexical cues, even if absent, when primed to expect them. Most researchers interpret these findings as evidence for exemplar models of speech perception (Niedzielski, 1999; Hay et al., 2006b; Staum Casasanto, 2009a). At least one early line of research, however, attributes the influence of socioindexical knowledge on speech perception to listeners’ negative bias (Rubin, 1992). A series of three experiments with experienced and inexperienced listeners investigates the use of socioindexical expectation during speech perception. The first experiment, a yes/no accent identification task, reveals that listeners, whether experienced or inexperienced with Chinese-accented English, are capable of judging the authenticity of a non-native accent. Experienced listeners are significantly more accurate and inexperienced listeners are significantly more likely to rate an imitated accent as authentic –suggesting they depend more heavily on stereotypical features. Experiment 2 addresses whether listeners can use socioindexical expectations to enhance speech perception. Both experienced and inexperienced listeners were significantly better at transcribing Chinese-accented sentences in noise when presented with an Asian face than when presented either with a silhouette or a Caucasian face. This result suggests that the negative bias hypothesis can not be correct; listeners can use socioindexical cues to enhance speech perception. Experiment 3 used eye-tracking to investigate the time course of the influence of socioindexical expectation. Inexperienced listeners hearing a Standard American English voice showed no significant difference in fixation latencies when presented either with an Asian or Caucasian face. Listeners shown an Asian face showed significantly longer dwell times to the target image late in the trial, however. This result reinforces the finding that the negative bias hypothesis can not be correct but is also not consistent with an exemplar based account in which socioindexical expectation pre-activates groups of socially labeled exemplars (Johnson, 2006). These results point to the need for more natural –more linguistic– tasks in the investigation of socioindexical speech perception and the need to look closely at time course to better understand the role of socioindexical expectation in speech perception.Ph.D.LinguisticsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89684/1/clunis_1.pd

Field Identification of the Mice Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis and P. maniculatus gracilis in Central New York

Field identification of the White-footed Mouse (Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis) and Long-tailed Deer Mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus gracilis) is difficult because of their similar external morphology. Peromyscus were sampled by live-trapping during a five-year period (1992-1996) at the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest, Van Etten, New York and identified to species by electrophoresis of their salivary amylase. No electromorphs were shared between P. leucopus and P. maniculatus, thus permitting unambiguous species identification of individuals. Means and ranges of four external measurements (ear, head-body, hind-foot, and tail) and tail to head-body ratio were determined for amylase-genotyped live mice. Although some body measurements did differ on average between the two species (ear, head-body, and tail for adults; hind-foot and tail for juveniles), the ranges of these overlap considerably. When the four external measurements (excluding the tail to head-body ratio) were used to construct two discriminant-function equations, they yielded correct identification of 80% of the adult P. l. noveboracensis and P. m. gracilis assessed excluding juveniles, and 71% of adult and juvenile mice combined. The function reported here allows partial field identification, but genetic analysis remains the only reliable field method for differentiation between live P. l. noveboracensis and P. m. gracilis. Includes erratum for a figure in this article

Establishing Equivalent Training Intensities for Isometric Bilateral-Leg and Handgrip Exercise Using the Category Ratio Scale

Isometric handgrip (IHG) training is commonly undertaken at an exercise intensity of 30% of a subject’s maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) (McGowan et al., 2007). Matching this intensity with isometric bilateral-leg (IBL) exercise is difficult due to the different muscle mass involved. Comparative studies (Howden et al., 2002) have tended to use different exercise intensities without providing a strong rationale. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to use the Category Ratio Scale (CR-10) to establish equivalent exercise intensities for IHG and IBL, based on participant effort perception and to test the extent to which intensity can be matched, when using this method during training sessions. A total of 26 healthy participants (male, n = 18; female, n = 8) undertook two minutes of unilateral IHG to establish the mean CR-10 values. Then, performed IBL exercise at 15, 20 and 25%MVC. The IBL intensity at which CR-10 most-closely matched the values for IHG, was identified as 20%MVC. Subsequently, an IHG and IBL training session was used, to test the extent to which the intensities were matched, according to effort perception. Ten participants (male, n = 6; female, n = 4) undertook 4 x 2 minutes unilateral IHG (30%MVC) and IBL (20%MVC) training, with 2 minutes recovery between contractions with CR-10 measured at the end of each exercise bout. A one-way independent ANOVA was used to identify the IHG and IBL intensities that were most-closely matched. To determine whether CR-10 values were significantly different during the IHG and IBL training sessions, a two-way mixed-model ANOVA was used.The intensity at which CR-10 was most-closely matched between IHG and IBL was 20%MVC. There were significant differences in the CR-10 values between IHG contractions at 30%MVC and IBL at 25%MVC and 15%MVC (P > 0.05) but not at 20%MVC (P 0.05).These results suggest when performing IBL exercise, the intensity most closely matching the IHG intensity (30%MVC) is 20%MVC. Furthermore, it can be seen from the simulated training sessions that CR-10 does not significantly differ between the two intensities until the final 2-minute bout. Therefore, it may be advantageous when undertaking one-off IBL exercise or IBL training protocols with the purpose of comparing data to that from IHG, to use 20%MVC. However, when a 4 x 2 minute training protocol is used, it may be necessary to attenuate the intensity of the 4th bout of IBL